NRW is preparing monkeypox vaccinations starting next week

Created: 07/03/2022, 11:35 am

Electron micrograph of monkeypox virus, ultrathin section.

© Freya Kaulbars/RKI/dpa/symbol image

In North Rhine-Westphalia, people with an increased risk of infection can be vaccinated against monkeypox in just a few days.

The vaccine will be made available to HIV and infection outpatient clinics at the university clinics and corresponding selected specialist practices from the end of next week, the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Health announced at the weekend.

Düsseldorf - The districts and independent cities have been informed about the implementation of the planned vaccinations against the monkeypox virus, it said.

For the free vaccinations, the federal government provides the vaccines Jynneos and Imvanex, which are approved in Europe by the European Medicines Agency (Ema) and, according to current knowledge, also protect against monkeypox infection.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that is mainly associated with symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle and back pain and a rash with blisters or pustules.

The disease is transmitted from person to person through close physical contact - contact with bodily fluids and the typical skin changes - with an infected person.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) currently assesses the risk of a hazard to the health of the general population as low.

Since the vaccine is currently only available to a limited extent, the group of people who can be vaccinated must first be narrowed down beyond the vaccination recommendations of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), according to the ministry.

According to the information, people who are particularly at risk can be vaccinated.

These are men with a high number of same-sex sexual contacts and a high risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

The health authorities should inform the exposed persons as part of contact tracing that they can be vaccinated and put them in touch with the vaccination centers.

In order to reach people with a particular risk of infection, the Working Group on AIDS Prevention NRW and the Aidshilfe NRW also provide information about the vaccination offers.

The decision to vaccinate is at the discretion of the vaccinating doctor.

The vaccine is already approved for use against monkeypox in several countries such as the United States and Canada.

The federal government procured it centrally for vaccinations against monkeypox in Germany.

A first delivery of 7,300 doses had already arrived in the NRW vaccine central warehouse, it was said.

200,000 more cans should be available in the third quarter of 2022.

In medically justified and urgent individual cases, vaccinations against monkeypox can already be carried out at the university hospitals in Aachen, Bochum, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, Münster and Cologne.

dpa